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{\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1507;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\lang1033\b\f0\fs20 THE FALL\par
\par
OF\par
\par
THE HOUSE OF USHER\b0\par
\par
Son coeur est un luth suspendu;\par
Sit\'c3\'99t qu'on le touche il r\'c3\'8bsonne..\par
\par
                                 \i De B\'e9ranger\i0 .\par
\par
    DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn\par
of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I\par
had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary\par
tract of country;  and at length found myself, as the shades of the\par
evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.  I\par
know not how it was - but, with the first glimpse of the building, a\par
sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.  I say insufferable;\par
 for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable,\par
because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even\par
the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible.  I looked\par
upon the scene before me - upon the mere house, and the simple\par
landscape features of the domain - upon the bleak walls - upon the\par
vacant eye-like windows - upon a few rank sedges - and upon a few\par
white trunks of decayed trees - with an utter depression of soul\par
which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the\par
after-dream of the reveller upon opium - the bitter lapse into\par
everyday life - the hideous dropping off of the veil.  There was an\par
iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart - an unredeemed\par
dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could\par
torture into aught of the sublime.  What was it - I paused to think -\par
what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of\par
Usher?  It was a mystery all insoluble;  nor could I grapple with\par
the shadowy fancies that crowded upon me as I pondered.  I was forced\par
to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond\par
doubt, there \i are\i0  combinations of very simple natural objects which\par
have the power of thus affecting us, still the analysis of this power\par
lies among considerations beyond our depth. It was possible, I\par
reflected, that a mere different arrangement of the particulars of\par
the scene, of the details of the picture, would be sufficient to\par
modify, or perhaps to annihilate its capacity for sorrowful\par
impression;  and, acting upon this idea, I reined my horse to the\par
precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn that lay in unruffled\par
lustre by the dwelling, and gazed down - but with a shudder even more\par
thrilling than before - upon the remodelled and inverted images of\par
the gray sedge, and the ghastly tree-stems, and the vacant and\par
eye-like windows.\par
\par
    Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a\par
sojourn of some weeks.  Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been one\par
of my boon companions in boyhood;  but many years had elapsed since\par
our last meeting.  A letter, however, had lately reached me in a\par
distant part of the country - a letter from him - which, in its\par
wildly importunate nature, had admitted of no other than a personal\par
reply.  The MS.  gave evidence of nervous agitation.  The writer\par
spoke of acute bodily illness - of a mental disorder which oppressed\par
him - and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed his\par
only personal friend, with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness\par
of my society, some alleviation of his malady.  It was the manner in\par
which all this, and much more, was said - it was the apparent \i heart\i0\par
that went with his request - which allowed me no room for hesitation;\par
and I accordingly obeyed forthwith what I still considered a very\par
singular summons.\par
\par
    Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I\par
really knew little of my friend.  His reserve had been always\par
excessive and habitual.  I was aware, however, that his very ancient\par
family had been noted, time out of mind, for a peculiar sensibility\par
of temperament, displaying itself, through long ages, in many works\par
of exalted art, and manifested, of late, in repeated deeds of\par
munificent yet unobtrusive charity, as well as in a passionate\par
devotion to the intricacies, perhaps even more than to the orthodox\par
and easily recognisable beauties, of musical science.  I had learned,\par
too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all\par
time-honored as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring\par
branch;  in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct\par
line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very\par
temporary variation, so lain.  It was this deficiency, I considered,\par
while running over in thought the perfect keeping of the character of\par
the premises with the accredited character of the people, and while\par
speculating upon the possible influence which the one, in the long\par
lapse of centuries, might have exercised upon the other - it was this\par
deficiency, perhaps, of collateral issue, and the consequent\par
undeviating transmission, from sire to son, of the patrimony with the\par
name, which had, at length, so identified the two as to merge the\par
original title of the estate in the quaint and equivocal appellation\par
of the "House of Usher" - an appellation which seemed to include, in\par
the minds of the peasantry who used it, both the family and the\par
family mansion.\par
\par
    I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish\par
experiment - that of looking down within the tarn - had been to\par
deepen the first singular impression.  There can be no doubt that the\par
consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition - for why\par
should I not so term it?  - served mainly to accelerate the increase\par
itself.  Such, I have long known, is the paradoxical law of all\par
sentiments having terror as a basis.  And it might have been for this\par
reason only, that, when I again uplifted my eyes to the house itself,\par
from its image in the pool, there grew in my mind a strange fancy - a\par
fancy so ridiculous, indeed, that I but mention it to show the vivid\par
force of the sensations which oppressed me.  I had so worked upon my\par
imagination as really to believe that about the whole mansion and\par
domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their\par
immediate vicinity - an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air\par
of heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the\par
gray wall, and the silent tarn - a pestilent and mystic vapor, dull,\par
sluggish, faintly discernible, and leaden-hued.\par
\par
    Shaking off from my spirit what \i must\i0  have been a dream, I\par
scanned more narrowly the real aspect of the building. Its principal\par
feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity.  The\par
discoloration of ages had been great.  Minute fungi overspread the\par
whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves.\par
Yet all this was apart from any extraordinary dilapidation. No\par
portion of the masonry had fallen;  and there appeared to be a wild\par
inconsistency between its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the\par
crumbling condition of the individual stones.  In this there was much\par
that reminded me of the specious totality of old wood-work which has\par
rotted for long years in some neglected vault, with no disturbance\par
from the breath of the external air.  Beyond this indication of\par
extensive decay, however, the fabric gave little token of\par
instability.  Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have\par
discovered a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the\par
roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag\par
direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn.\par
\par
    Noticing these things, I rode over a short causeway to the house.\par
 A servant in waiting took my horse, and I entered the Gothic archway\par
of the hall.  A valet, of stealthy step, thence conducted me, in\par
silence, through many dark and intricate passages in my progress to\par
the \i studio\i0  of his master.  Much that I encountered on the way\par
contributed, I know not how, to heighten the vague sentiments of\par
which I have already spoken.  While the objects around me - while the\par
carvings of the ceilings, the sombre tapestries of the walls, the\par
ebon blackness of the floors, and the phantasmagoric armorial\par
trophies which rattled as I strode, were but matters to which, or to\par
such as which, I had been accustomed from my infancy - while I\par
hesitated not to acknowledge how familiar was all this - I still\par
wondered to find how unfamiliar were the fancies which ordinary\par
images were stirring up.  On one of the staircases, I met the\par
physician of the family.  His countenance, I thought, wore a mingled\par
expression of low cunning and perplexity.  He accosted me with\par
trepidation and passed on.  The valet now threw open a door and\par
ushered me into the presence of his master.\par
\par
    The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty.  The\par
windows were long, narrow, and pointed, and at so vast a distance\par
from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from\par
within. Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the\par
trellissed panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more\par
prominent objects around;  the eye, however, struggled in vain to\par
reach the remoter angles of the chamber, or the recesses of the\par
vaulted and fretted ceiling.  Dark draperies hung upon the walls.\par
The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and\par
tattered.  Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about,\par
but failed to give any vitality to the scene.  I felt that I breathed\par
an atmosphere of sorrow.  An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable\par
gloom hung over and pervaded all.\par
\par
    Upon my entrance, Usher arose from a sofa on which he had been\par
lying at full length, and greeted me with a vivacious warmth which\par
had much in it, I at first thought, of an overdone cordiality - of\par
the constrained effort of the \i ennuy\'e9\i0 ;  man of the world. A glance,\par
however, at his countenance, convinced me of his perfect sincerity.\par
We sat down;  and for some moments, while he spoke not, I gazed upon\par
him with a feeling half of pity, half of awe.  Surely, man had never\par
before so terribly altered, in so brief a period, as had Roderick\par
Usher!  It was with difficulty that I could bring myself to admit\par
the identity of the wan being before me with the companion of my\par
early boyhood.  Yet the character of his face had been at all times\par
remarkable.  A cadaverousness of complexion;  an eye large, liquid,\par
and luminous beyond comparison;  lips somewhat thin and very pallid,\par
but of a surpassingly beautiful curve;  a nose of a delicate Hebrew\par
model, but with a breadth of nostril unusual in similar formations;\par
a finely moulded chin, speaking, in its want of prominence, of a want\par
of moral energy; hair of a more than web-like softness and tenuity;\par
these features, with an inordinate expansion above the regions of the\par
temple, made up altogether a countenance not easily to be forgotten.\par
And now in the mere exaggeration of the prevailing character of these\par
features, and of the expression they were wont to convey, lay so much\par
of change that I doubted to whom I spoke.  The now ghastly pallor of\par
the skin, and the now miraculous lustre of the eye, above all things\par
startled and even awed me.  The silken hair, too, had been suffered\par
to grow all unheeded, and as, in its wild gossamer texture, it\par
floated rather than fell about the face, I could not, even with\par
effort, connect its Arabesque expression with any idea of simple\par
humanity.\par
\par
    In the manner of my friend I was at once struck with an\par
incoherence - an inconsistency;  and I soon found this to arise from\par
a series of feeble and futile struggles to overcome an habitual\par
trepidancy - an excessive nervous agitation.  For something of this\par
nature I had indeed been prepared, no less by his letter, than by\par
reminiscences of certain boyish traits, and by conclusions deduced\par
from his peculiar physical conformation and temperament.  His action\par
was alternately vivacious and sullen.  His voice varied rapidly from\par
a tremulous indecision (when the animal spirits seemed utterly in\par
abeyance) to that species of energetic concision - that abrupt,\par
weighty, unhurried, and hollow-sounding enunciation - that leaden,\par
self-balanced and perfectly modulated guttural utterance, which may\par
be observed in the lost drunkard, or the irreclaimable eater of\par
opium, during the periods of his most intense excitement.\par
\par
    It was thus that he spoke of the object of my visit, of his\par
earnest desire to see me, and of the solace he expected me to afford\par
him.  He entered, at some length, into what he conceived to be the\par
nature of his malady.  It was, he said, a constitutional and a family\par
evil, and one for which he despaired to find a remedy - a mere\par
nervous affection, he immediately added, which would undoubtedly soon\par
pass off.  It displayed itself in a host of unnatural sensations.\par
Some of these, as he detailed them, interested and bewildered me;\par
although, perhaps, the terms, and the general manner of the narration\par
had their weight.  He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the\par
senses;  the most insipid food was alone endurable; he could wear\par
only garments of certain texture;  the odors of all flowers were\par
oppressive;  his eyes were tortured by even a faint light;  and\par
there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments,\par
which did not inspire him with horror.\par
\par
    To an anomalous species of terror I found him a bounden slave.\par
"I shall perish," said he, "I must perish in this deplorable folly.\par
Thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost.  I dread the events\par
of the future, not in themselves, but in their results.  I shudder at\par
the thought of any, even the most trivial, incident, which may\par
operate upon this intolerable agitation of soul.  I have, indeed, no\par
abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect - in terror.  In\par
this unnerved - in this pitiable condition - I feel that the period\par
will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason\par
together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR."\par
\par
    I learned, moreover, at intervals, and through broken and\par
equivocal hints, another singular feature of his mental condition. He\par
was enchained by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the\par
dwelling which he tenanted, and whence, for many years, he had never\par
ventured forth - in regard to an influence whose supposititious force\par
was conveyed in terms too shadowy here to be re-stated - an influence\par
which some peculiarities in the mere form and substance of his family\par
mansion, had, by dint of long sufferance, he said, obtained over his\par
spirit - an effect which the \i physique\i0  of the gray walls and\par
turrets, and of the dim tarn into which they all looked down, had, at\par
length, brought about upon the \i morale\i0  of his existence.\par
\par
    He admitted, however, although with hesitation, that much of the\par
peculiar gloom which thus afflicted him could be traced to a more\par
natural and far more palpable origin - to the severe and\par
long-continued illness - indeed to the evidently approaching\par
dissolution - of a tenderly beloved sister - his sole companion for\par
long years - his last and only relative on earth.  "Her decease," he\par
said, with a bitterness which I can never forget, "would leave him\par
(him the hopeless and the frail) the last of the ancient race of the\par
Ushers." While he spoke, the lady Madeline (for so was she called)\par
passed slowly through a remote portion of the apartment, and, without\par
having noticed my presence, disappeared.  I regarded her with an\par
utter astonishment not unmingled with dread - and yet I found it\par
impossible to account for such feelings.  A sensation of stupor\par
oppressed me, as my eyes followed her retreating steps.  When a door,\par
at length, closed upon her, my glance sought instinctively and\par
eagerly the countenance of the brother - but he had buried his face\par
in his hands, and I could only perceive that a far more than ordinary\par
wanness had overspread the emaciated fingers through which trickled\par
many passionate tears.\par
\par
    The disease of the lady Madeline had long baffled the skill of\par
her physicians.  A settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the\par
person, and frequent although transient affections of a partially\par
cataleptical character, were the unusual diagnosis.  Hitherto she had\par
steadily borne up against the pressure of her malady, and had not\par
betaken herself finally to bed;  but, on the closing in of the\par
evening of my arrival at the house, she succumbed (as her brother\par
told me at night with inexpressible agitation) to the prostrating\par
power of the destroyer;  and I learned that the glimpse I had\par
obtained of her person would thus probably be the last I should\par
obtain - that the lady, at least while living, would be seen by me no\par
more.\par
\par
    For several days ensuing, her name was unmentioned by either\par
Usher or myself: and during this period I was busied in earnest\par
endeavors to alleviate the melancholy of my friend.  We painted and\par
read together;  or I listened, as if in a dream, to the wild\par
improvisations of his speaking guitar.  And thus, as a closer and\par
still closer intimacy admitted me more unreservedly into the recesses\par
of his spirit, the more bitterly did I perceive the futility of all\par
attempt at cheering a mind from which darkness, as if an inherent\par
positive quality, poured forth upon all objects of the moral and\par
physical universe, in one unceasing radiation of gloom.\par
\par
    I shall ever bear about me a memory of the many solemn hours I\par
thus spent alone with the master of the House of Usher.  Yet I should\par
fail in any attempt to convey an idea of the exact character of the\par
studies, or of the occupations, in which he involved me, or led me\par
the way.  An excited and highly distempered ideality threw a\par
sulphureous lustre over all.  His long improvised dirges will ring\par
forever in my ears.  Among other things, I hold painfully in mind a\par
certain singular perversion and amplification of the wild air of the\par
last waltz of Von Weber.  From the paintings over which his elaborate\par
fancy brooded, and which grew, touch by touch, into vaguenesses at\par
which I shuddered the more thrillingly, because I shuddered knowing\par
not why;  - from these paintings (vivid as their images now are\par
before me) I would in vain endeavor to educe more than a small\par
portion which should lie within the compass of merely written words.\par
By the utter simplicity, by the nakedness of his designs, he arrested\par
and overawed attention.  If ever mortal painted an idea, that mortal\par
was Roderick Usher.  For me at least - in the circumstances then\par
surrounding me - there arose out of the pure abstractions which the\par
hypochondriac contrived to throw upon his canvass, an intensity of\par
intolerable awe, no shadow of which felt I ever yet in the\par
contemplation of the certainly glowing yet too concrete reveries of\par
Fuseli.\par
\par
    One of the phantasmagoric conceptions of my friend, partaking not\par
so rigidly of the spirit of abstraction, may be shadowed forth,\par
although feebly, in words.  A small picture presented the interior of\par
an immensely long and rectangular vault or tunnel, with low walls,\par
smooth, white, and without interruption or device.  Certain accessory\par
points of the design served well to convey the idea that this\par
excavation lay at an exceeding depth below the surface of the earth.\par
No outlet was observed in any portion of its vast extent, and no\par
torch, or other artificial source of light was discernible;  yet a\par
flood of intense rays rolled throughout, and bathed the whole in a\par
ghastly and inappropriate splendor.\par
\par
    I have just spoken of that morbid condition of the auditory nerve\par
which rendered all music intolerable to the sufferer, with the\par
exception of certain effects of stringed instruments.  It was,\par
perhaps, the narrow limits to which he thus confined himself upon the\par
guitar, which gave birth, in great measure, to the fantastic\par
character of his performances. But the fervid \i facility\i0  of his\par
\i impromptus\i0  could not be so accounted for.  They must have been, and\par
were, in the notes, as well as in the words of his wild fantasias\par
(for he not unfrequently accompanied himself with rhymed verbal\par
improvisations), the result of that intense mental collectedness and\par
concentration to which I have previously alluded as observable only\par
in particular moments of the highest artificial excitement. The words\par
of one of these rhapsodies I have easily remembered.  I was, perhaps,\par
the more forcibly impressed with it, as he gave it, because, in the\par
under or mystic current of its meaning, I fancied that I perceived,\par
and for the first time, a full consciousness on the part of Usher, of\par
the tottering of his lofty reason upon her throne.  The verses, which\par
were entitled "The Haunted Palace," ran very nearly, if not\par
accurately, thus:\par
\par
                         I.\par
     In the greenest of our valleys,\par
         By good angels tenanted,\par
     Once a fair and stately palace -\par
         Radiant palace - reared its head.\par
     In the monarch Thought's dominion -\par
         It stood there!\par
     Never seraph spread a pinion\par
         Over fabric half so fair.\par
                         II.\par
     Banners yellow, glorious, golden,\par
         On its roof did float and flow;\par
     (This - all this - was in the olden\par
         Time long ago)\par
     And every gentle air that dallied,\par
         In that sweet day,\par
     Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,\par
         A winged odor went away.\par
                         III.\par
     Wanderers in that happy valley\par
         Through two luminous windows saw\par
     Spirits moving musically\par
         To a lute's well-tun\'e8d law,\par
     Round about a throne, where sitting\par
         (Porphyrogene!)\par
     In state his glory well befitting,\par
         The ruler of the realm was seen.\par
                          IV.\par
     And all with pearl and ruby glowing\par
         Was the fair palace door,\par
     Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing,\par
         And sparkling evermore,\par
     A troop of Echoes whose sweet duty\par
         Was but to sing,\par
     In voices of surpassing beauty,\par
         The wit and wisdom of their king.\par
                         V.\par
     But evil things, in robes of sorrow,\par
         Assailed the monarch's high estate;\par
     (Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow\par
         Shall dawn upon him, desolate!)\par
     And, round about his home, the glory\par
         That blushed and bloomed\par
     Is but a dim-remembered story\par
         Of the old time entombed.\par
                         VI.\par
     And travellers now within that valley,\par
         Through the red-litten windows, see\par
     Vast forms that move fantastically\par
         To a discordant melody;\par
     While, like a rapid ghastly river,\par
         Through the pale door,\par
     A hideous throng rush out forever,\par
         And laugh - but smile no more.\par
\par
    I well remember that suggestions arising from this ballad, led us\par
into a train of thought wherein there became manifest an opinion of\par
Usher's which I mention not so much on account of its novelty, (for\par
other men * have thought thus,) as on account of the pertinacity with\par
which he maintained it.  This opinion, in its general form, was that\par
of the sentience of all vegetable things.  But, in his disordered\par
fancy, the idea had assumed a more daring character, and trespassed,\par
under certain conditions, upon the kingdom of inorganization.  I lack\par
words to express the full extent, or the earnest \i abandon\i0  of his\par
persuasion.  The belief, however, was connected (as I have previously\par
hinted) with the gray stones of the home of his forefathers.  The\par
conditions of the sentience had been here, he imagined, fulfilled in\par
the method of collocation of these stones - in the order of their\par
arrangement, as well as in that of the many \i fungi\i0  which overspread\par
them, and of the decayed trees which stood around - above all, in the\par
long undisturbed endurance of this arrangement, and in its\par
reduplication in the still waters of the tarn.  Its evidence - the\par
evidence of the sentience - was to be seen, he said, (and I here\par
started as he spoke,) in the gradual yet certain condensation of an\par
atmosphere of their own about the waters and the walls.  The result\par
was discoverable, he added, in that silent, yet importunate and\par
terrible influence which for centuries had moulded the destinies of\par
his family, and which made \i him\i0  what I now saw him - what he was.\par
Such opinions need no comment, and I will make none.\par
\par
    * Watson, Dr.  Percival, Spallanzani, and especially the Bishop\par
of Landaff.  -  See "Chemical Essays," vol v.\par
\par
    Our books - the books which, for years, had formed no small\par
portion of the mental existence of the invalid - were, as might be\par
supposed, in strict keeping with this character of phantasm.  We\par
pored together over such works as the Ververt et Chartreuse of\par
Gresset;  the Belphegor of Machiavelli;  the Heaven and Hell of\par
Swedenborg;  the Subterranean Voyage of Nicholas Klimm by Holberg;\par
the Chiromancy of Robert Flud, of Jean D'Indagin\'e9, and of De la\par
Chambre;  the Journey into the Blue Distance of Tieck;  and the\par
City of the Sun of Campanella.  One favorite volume was a small\par
octavo edition of the \i Directorium Inquisitorium\i0 , by the Dominican\par
Eymeric de Gironne; and there were passages in Pomponius Mela, about\par
the old African Satyrs and \'c3\'a5gipans, over which Usher would sit\par
dreaming for hours.  His chief delight, however, was found in the\par
perusal of an exceedingly rare and curious book in quarto Gothic -\par
the manual of a forgotten church - the \i Vigiliae Mortuorum secundum\par
Chorum Ecclesiae Maguntinae\i0 .\par
\par
    I could not help thinking of the wild ritual of this work, and of\par
its probable influence upon the hypochondriac, when, one evening,\par
having informed me abruptly that the lady Madeline was no more, he\par
stated his intention of preserving her corpse for a fortnight,\par
(previously to its final interment,) in one of the numerous vaults\par
within the main walls of the building.  The worldly reason, however,\par
assigned for this singular proceeding, was one which I did not feel\par
at liberty to dispute.  The brother had been led to his resolution\par
(so he told me) by consideration of the unusual character of the\par
malady of the deceased, of certain obtrusive and eager inquiries on\par
the part of her medical men, and of the remote and exposed situation\par
of the burial-ground of the family.  I will not deny that when I\par
called to mind the sinister countenance of the person whom I met upon\par
the staircase, on the day of my arrival at the house, I had no desire\par
to oppose what I regarded as at best but a harmless, and by no means\par
an unnatural, precaution.\par
\par
    At the request of Usher, I personally aided him in the\par
arrangements for the temporary entombment.  The body having been\par
encoffined, we two alone bore it to its rest.  The vault in which we\par
placed it (and which had been so long unopened that our torches, half\par
smothered in its oppressive atmosphere, gave us little opportunity\par
for investigation) was small, damp, and entirely without means of\par
admission for light;  lying, at great depth, immediately beneath\par
that portion of the building in which was my own sleeping apartment.\par
It had been used, apparently, in remote feudal times, for the worst\par
purposes of a donjon-keep, and, in later days, as a place of deposit\par
for powder, or some other highly combustible substance, as a portion\par
of its floor, and the whole interior of a long archway through which\par
we reached it, were carefully sheathed with copper.  The door, of\par
massive iron, had been, also, similarly protected. Its immense weight\par
caused an unusually sharp grating sound, as it moved upon its hinges.\par
\par
    Having deposited our mournful burden upon tressels within this\par
region of horror, we partially turned aside the yet unscrewed lid of\par
the coffin, and looked upon the face of the tenant.  A striking\par
similitude between the brother and sister now first arrested my\par
attention;  and Usher, divining, perhaps, my thoughts, murmured out\par
some few words from which I learned that the deceased and himself had\par
been twins, and that sympathies of a scarcely intelligible nature had\par
always existed between them.  Our glances, however, rested not long\par
upon the dead - for we could not regard her unawed.  The disease\par
which had thus entombed the lady in the maturity of youth, had left,\par
as usual in all maladies of a strictly cataleptical character, the\par
mockery of a faint blush upon the bosom and the face, and that\par
suspiciously lingering smile upon the lip which is so terrible in\par
death.  We replaced and screwed down the lid, and, having secured the\par
door of iron, made our way, with toil, into the scarcely less gloomy\par
apartments of the upper portion of the house.\par
\par
    And now, some days of bitter grief having elapsed, an observable\par
change came over the features of the mental disorder of my friend.\par
His ordinary manner had vanished.  His ordinary occupations were\par
neglected or forgotten.  He roamed from chamber to chamber with\par
hurried, unequal, and objectless step.  The pallor of his countenance\par
had assumed, if possible, a more ghastly hue - but the luminousness\par
of his eye had utterly gone out.  The once occasional huskiness of\par
his tone was heard no more; and a tremulous quaver, as if of extreme\par
terror, habitually characterized his utterance.  There were times,\par
indeed, when I thought his unceasingly agitated mind was laboring\par
with some oppressive secret, to divulge which he struggled for the\par
necessary courage.  At times, again, I was obliged to resolve all\par
into the mere inexplicable vagaries of madness, for I beheld him\par
gazing upon vacancy for long hours, in an attitude of the profoundest\par
attention, as if listening to some imaginary sound.  It was no wonder\par
that his condition terrified - that it infected me.  I felt creeping\par
upon me, by slow yet certain degrees, the wild influences of his own\par
fantastic yet impressive superstitions.\par
\par
    It was, especially, upon retiring to bed late in the night of the\par
seventh or eighth day after the placing of the lady Madeline within\par
the donjon, that I experienced the full power of such feelings. Sleep\par
came not near my couch - while the hours waned and waned away.  I\par
struggled to reason off the nervousness which had dominion over me.\par
I endeavored to believe that much, if not all of what I felt, was due\par
to the bewildering influence of the gloomy furniture of the room - of\par
the dark and tattered draperies, which, tortured into motion by the\par
breath of a rising tempest, swayed fitfully to and fro upon the\par
walls, and rustled uneasily about the decorations of the bed.  But my\par
efforts were fruitless.  An irrepressible tremor gradually pervaded\par
my frame;  and, at length, there sat upon my very heart an incubus\par
of utterly causeless alarm.  Shaking this off with a gasp and a\par
struggle, I uplifted myself upon the pillows, and, peering earnestly\par
within the intense darkness of the chamber, harkened - I know not\par
why, except that an instinctive spirit prompted me - to certain low\par
and indefinite sounds which came, through the pauses of the storm, at\par
long intervals, I knew not whence.  Overpowered by an intense\par
sentiment of horror, unaccountable yet unendurable, I threw on my\par
clothes with haste (for I felt that I should sleep no more during the\par
night), and endeavored to arouse myself from the pitiable condition\par
into which I had fallen, by pacing rapidly to and fro through the\par
apartment.\par
\par
    I had taken but few turns in this manner, when a light step on an\par
adjoining staircase arrested my attention.  I presently recognised it\par
as that of Usher.  In an instant afterward he rapped, with a gentle\par
touch, at my door, and entered, bearing a lamp.  His countenance was,\par
as usual, cadaverously wan - but, moreover, there was a species of\par
mad hilarity in his eyes - an evidently restrained \i hysteria\i0  in his\par
whole demeanor.  His air appalled me - but anything was preferable to\par
the solitude which I had so long endured, and I even welcomed his\par
presence as a relief.\par
\par
    "And you have not seen it?" he said abruptly, after having\par
stared about him for some moments in silence - "you have not then\par
seen it?  - but, stay!  you shall." Thus speaking, and having\par
carefully shaded his lamp, he hurried to one of the casements, and\par
threw it freely open to the storm.\par
\par
    The impetuous fury of the entering gust nearly lifted us from our\par
feet.  It was, indeed, a tempestuous yet sternly beautiful night, and\par
one wildly singular in its terror and its beauty.  A whirlwind had\par
apparently collected its force in our vicinity;  for there were\par
frequent and violent alterations in the direction of the wind;  and\par
the exceeding density of the clouds (which hung so low as to press\par
upon the turrets of the house) did not prevent our perceiving the\par
life-like velocity with which they flew careering from all points\par
against each other, without passing away into the distance.  I say\par
that even their exceeding density did not prevent our perceiving this\par
- yet we had no glimpse of the moon or stars - nor was there any\par
flashing forth of the lightning.  But the under surfaces of the huge\par
masses of agitated vapor, as well as all terrestrial objects\par
immediately around us, were glowing in the unnatural light of a\par
faintly luminous and distinctly visible gaseous exhalation which hung\par
about and enshrouded the mansion.\par
\par
    "You must not - you shall not behold this!" said I,\par
shudderingly, to Usher, as I led him, with a gentle violence, from\par
the window to a seat.  "These appearances, which bewilder you, are\par
merely electrical phenomena not uncommon - or it may be that they\par
have their ghastly origin in the rank miasma of the tarn.  Let us\par
close this casement;  - the air is chilling and dangerous to your\par
frame.  Here is one of your favorite romances.  I will read, and you\par
shall listen;  - and so we will pass away this terrible night\par
together."\par
\par
    The antique volume which I had taken up was the "Mad Trist" of\par
Sir Launcelot Canning;  but I had called it a favorite of Usher's\par
more in sad jest than in earnest;  for, in truth, there is little in\par
its uncouth and unimaginative prolixity which could have had interest\par
for the lofty and spiritual ideality of my friend.  It was, however,\par
the only book immediately at hand;  and I indulged a vague hope that\par
the excitement which now agitated the hypochondriac, might find\par
relief (for the history of mental disorder is full of similar\par
anomalies) even in the extremeness of the folly which I should read.\par
Could I have judged, indeed, by the wild overstrained air of vivacity\par
with which he harkened, or apparently harkened, to the words of the\par
tale, I might well have congratulated myself upon the success of my\par
design.\par
\par
    I had arrived at that well-known portion of the story where\par
Ethelred, the hero of the Trist, having sought in vain for peaceable\par
admission into the dwelling of the hermit, proceeds to make good an\par
entrance by force.  Here, it will be remembered, the words of the\par
narrative run thus:\par
\par
    "And Ethelred, who was by nature of a doughty heart, and who was\par
now mighty withal, on account of the powerfulness of the wine which\par
he had drunken, waited no longer to hold parley with the hermit, who,\par
in sooth, was of an obstinate and maliceful turn, but, feeling the\par
rain upon his shoulders, and fearing the rising of the tempest,\par
uplifted his mace outright, and, with blows, made quickly room in the\par
plankings of the door for his gauntleted hand;  and now pulling\par
therewith sturdily, he so cracked, and ripped, and tore all asunder,\par
that the noise of the dry and hollow-sounding wood alarummed and\par
reverberated throughout the forest."\par
\par
    At the termination of this sentence I started, and for a moment,\par
paused;  for it appeared to me (although I at once concluded that my\par
excited fancy had deceived me) - it appeared to me that, from some\par
very remote portion of the mansion, there came, indistinctly, to my\par
ears, what might have been, in its exact similarity of character, the\par
echo (but a stifled and dull one certainly) of the very cracking and\par
ripping sound which Sir Launcelot had so particularly described.  It\par
was, beyond doubt, the coincidence alone which had arrested my\par
attention;  for, amid the rattling of the sashes of the casements,\par
and the ordinary commingled noises of the still increasing storm, the\par
sound, in itself, had nothing, surely, which should have interested\par
or disturbed me.  I continued the story:\par
\par
    "But the good champion Ethelred, now entering within the door,\par
was sore enraged and amazed to perceive no signal of the maliceful\par
hermit;  but, in the stead thereof, a dragon of a scaly and\par
prodigious demeanor, and of a fiery tongue, which sate in guard\par
before a palace of gold, with a floor of silver;  and upon the wall\par
there hung a shield of shining brass with this legend enwritten -\par
\par
     Who entereth herein, a conqueror hath bin;\par
     Who slayeth the dragon, the shield he shall win;\par
\par
    And Ethelred uplifted his mace, and struck upon the head of the\par
dragon, which fell before him, and gave up his pesty breath, with a\par
shriek so horrid and harsh, and withal so piercing, that Ethelred had\par
fain to close his ears with his hands against the dreadful noise of\par
it, the like whereof was never before heard."\par
\par
    Here again I paused abruptly, and now with a feeling of wild\par
amazement - for there could be no doubt whatever that, in this\par
instance, I did actually hear (although from what direction it\par
proceeded I found it impossible to say) a low and apparently distant,\par
but harsh, protracted, and most unusual screaming or grating sound -\par
the exact counterpart of what my fancy had already conjured up for\par
the dragon's unnatural shriek as described by the romancer.\par
\par
    Oppressed, as I certainly was, upon the occurrence of this second\par
and most extraordinary coincidence, by a thousand conflicting\par
sensations, in which wonder and extreme terror were predominant, I\par
still retained sufficient presence of mind to avoid exciting, by any\par
observation, the sensitive nervousness of my companion.  I was by no\par
means certain that he had noticed the sounds in question;  although,\par
assuredly, a strange alteration had, during the last few minutes,\par
taken place in his demeanor. From a position fronting my own, he had\par
gradually brought round his chair, so as to sit with his face to the\par
door of the chamber;  and thus I could but partially perceive his\par
features, although I saw that his lips trembled as if he were\par
murmuring inaudibly.  His head had dropped upon his breast - yet I\par
knew that he was not asleep, from the wide and rigid opening of the\par
eye as I caught a glance of it in profile.  The motion of his body,\par
too, was at variance with this idea - for he rocked from side to side\par
with a gentle yet constant and uniform sway.  Having rapidly taken\par
notice of all this, I resumed the narrative of Sir Launcelot, which\par
thus proceeded:\par
\par
    "And now, the champion, having escaped from the terrible fury of\par
the dragon, bethinking himself of the brazen shield, and of the\par
breaking up of the enchantment which was upon it, removed the carcass\par
from out of the way before him, and approached valorously over the\par
silver pavement of the castle to where the shield was upon the wall;\par
 which in sooth tarried not for his full coming, but fell down at his\par
feet upon the silver floor, with a mighty great and terrible ringing\par
sound."\par
\par
    No sooner had these syllables passed my lips, than - as if a\par
shield of brass had indeed, at the moment, fallen heavily upon a\par
floor of silver - I became aware of a distinct, hollow, metallic, and\par
clangorous, yet apparently muffled reverberation.  Completely\par
unnerved, I leaped to my feet;  but the measured rocking movement of\par
Usher was undisturbed.  I rushed to the chair in which he sat.  His\par
eyes were bent fixedly before him, and throughout his whole\par
countenance there reigned a stony rigidity.  But, as I placed my hand\par
upon his shoulder, there came a strong shudder over his whole person;\par
a sickly smile quivered about his lips;  and I saw that he spoke\par
in a low, hurried, and gibbering murmur, as if unconscious of my\par
presence.  Bending closely over him, I at length drank in the hideous\par
import of his words.\par
\par
    "Not hear it?  - yes, I hear it, and \i have\i0  heard it.  Long -\par
long - long - many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it -\par
yet I dared not - oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am!  - I\par
dared not - I \i dared\i0  not speak!  \i We have put her living in the\par
tomb!\i0   Said I not that my senses were acute?  I \i now\i0  tell you\par
that I heard her first feeble movements in the hollow coffin.  I\par
heard them - many, many days ago - yet I dared not - \i I dared not\par
speak!\i0   And now - to-night - Ethelred - ha!  ha! - the breaking\par
of the hermit's door, and the death-cry of the dragon, and the\par
clangor of the shield!  - say, rather, the rending of her coffin,\par
and the grating of the iron hinges of her prison, and her struggles\par
within the coppered archway of the vault!   Oh whither shall I fly?\par
 Will she not be here anon?  Is she not hurrying to upbraid me for\par
my haste?  Have I not heard her footstep on the stair?  Do I not\par
distinguish that heavy and horrible beating of her heart?  Madman!"\par
- here he sprang furiously to his feet, and shrieked out his\par
syllables, as if in the effort he were giving up his soul - \i "Madman!\par
I tell you that she now stands without the door!"\i0\par
\par
    As if in the superhuman energy of his utterance there had been\par
found the potency of a spell - the huge antique pannels to which the\par
speaker pointed, threw slowly back, upon the instant, their ponderous\par
and ebony jaws.  It was the work of the rushing gust - but then\par
without those doors there \i did\i0  stand the lofty and enshrouded figure\par
of the lady Madeline of Usher.  There was blood upon her white robes,\par
and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her\par
emaciated frame.  For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to\par
and fro upon the threshold - then, with a low moaning cry, fell\par
heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in her violent and\par
now final death-agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim\par
to the terrors he had anticipated.\par
\par
    From that chamber, and from that mansion, I fled aghast.  The\par
storm was still abroad in all its wrath as I found myself crossing\par
the old causeway.  Suddenly there shot along the path a wild light,\par
and I turned to see whence a gleam so unusual could have issued;\par
for the vast house and its shadows were alone behind me.  The\par
radiance was that of the full, setting, and blood-red moon, which now\par
shone vividly through that once barely-discernible fissure, of which\par
I have before spoken as extending from the roof of the building, in a\par
zigzag direction, to the base.  While I gazed, this fissure rapidly\par
widened - there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind - the entire\par
orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight - my brain reeled as\par
I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder - there was a long tumultuous\par
shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters - and the deep and\par
dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments\par
of the \i "House of Usher."\i0\par
\par
\par
\par
~~~ End of Text ~~~\par
\par
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